Game Recap

Mets Lost a Game They Had No Business Winning

One of the Mets hottest hitters, Asdrubal Cabrera, and the Mets best hitter, Yoenis Cespedes, got a day off with the Mets playing a day game after a night game. Kelly Johnson was getting his first start since July 1st. Wilmer Flores and James Loney were the number three and four hitters in the lineup going up against Kyle Hendricks, who has only allowed three earned runs over his last 31 innings pitched. The Mets sent Bartolo Colon to the mound on a hot and humid day at Wrigley. Long story, short, the Mets had no business winning this game. 

They didn’t. 

It started in the first with Colon issuing consecutive two out walks. Both runners would then score on an Addison Russell bases clearing double. Anthony Rizzo would then hit a homer in the third (solo) and the fifth (two run) shot. Following that home run, the Cubs put two on with one out chasing Colon from the game. 

Antonio Bastardo came on and allowed an inherited runner to score on a Javier Baez RBI single. That closed the books on Colon who allowed eight hits, six earned, and two walks with one strikeout in what was an ugly outing. Bastardo only allowed that one hit in 1.2 innings meaning this could very well be the best game he’s pitched as a Met. 
The Mets did have their chances. In the second, the Mets threatened in the second. Travis d’Arnaud hit a double that would have scored anyone but the slower than Sid Bream Loney. After a Johnson walk, Juan Lagares hit into an inning ending 5-4-3 double play, which was nowhere near as impressive as the one the Mets turned last night.

Loney’s speed prevented the Mets from scoring another run in the fourth. With two outs and Loney on second, Johnson singled to center. Human windmill Tim Teufel sent Loney who was gunned down at home by Jayson Heyward. Ironically, the one time the Mets get a hit with a runner in scoring position, it’s Loney at second, and the runner still doesn’t score. 

As usual, the Mets didn’t score until a home run was hit. In the eighth, Flores hit a two run homer off Cubs reliever Travis Wood. It made the score 6-2, but it was too little too late. The Mets lost two of three to the Cubs, but they still won the season series against them 5-2. 

Game Notes: Johnson was a perfect 4-4. Michael Conforto got his first extra base hit in his return with a fifth inning double. He was 1-4 on the day with a strikeout. With Lagares playing today, he was back in left, and Curtis Granderson was back in right. 

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There’s an “S” in RISP

One thing that has become apparent with this Mets offense is they forgot there is an “S” in RISP because time and again runners find their way to second and third only to die. It was more of the same tonight. 

The Mets were 0-7 with RISP. The team left seven runners on base in a game they lost 5-1. This includes, but is not limited to, the two runners left on base when Travis d’Arnaud hit into a 4-4-3 game ending double play. Coming into the night, he was hitting .190 with runners in scoring position. 

This includes Neil Walker striking out in in a critical eighth inning spot where he came to the plate as the tying run. Coming into the game, he was hitting .258 with runners in scoring position. The fact that it is higher than his batting average tells you how his season has gone since April. 

It includes Asdrubal Cabrera grounding into a double play killing a two on no out rally in the second with the score tied at zero. He’s now 0 for his last 28 with runners in scoring position. 

The other Mets who failed to get a hit with runners in scoring position tonight were Juan Lagares (.167), Curtis Granderson (.150), Yoenis Cespedes (.259), and Jose Reyes. As usual, the Mets couldn’t score a run unless someone hit a homer. In fact, the only run the Mets scored on the night was a Wilmer Flores solo shot off Jon Lester in the seventh. Unfortunately, with the Mets not hitting with runners in scoring position, it was too little too late. 

With the Mets struggles with runners in scoring position, the game was effectively over when Anthony Rizzo hit a three run third inning home run off Steven Matz. Matz’s final line would be five innings, eight hits, four earned, one walk, and five strikeouts. Again, he is not the same pitcher with the bone spurs as it is preventing him from incorporating his slider. Matz is now 0-7 in his last seven decisions. 

Making things worse was a ball going through Cespedes’ wickets in the bottom of the eighth. Albert Amora hit a single to left that most likely would’ve scored Matt Szczur, who had previously hit a two out double off Erik Goeddel.  Szczur could walk home easy after the ball went between Cespedes’ legs and continued all the way to the ivy. It should be noted, he had a good throw earlier in the game:

Still, there were some positives to the game other than the Flores’ home run. Seth Lugo remains unscored upon in his young career after pitching another two scoreless innings. Michael Conforto made a pinch hitting appearance, and he had a well struck opposite field single. 

Other than that, it was a lost night that leaves you scratching your head about the problems with runners in scoring position.  You need to be concerned about Matz’s pitching. And while it is too early to be concerned, it should be noted the Mets fell to third place in the NL East to the Miami Marlins, who also have sole possession of the second Wild Card as of tonight. 

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Mets Aim Small, Miss Small

Tonight, the Mets seemed more intent on manufacturing runs than putting together big innings. It’s a time when the Mets needed Benjamin Martin as their manager instead of Terry Collins: 

The first Mets run of the game was the result of Juan Lagares hitting a double, starter Logan Verrett bunting him over, and Jose Reyes scoring him on a sacrifice fly. In the following inning, Curtis Granderson hit a double, moved to third on a Neil Walker ground out, and scored on a Travis d’Arnaud sacrifice fly. The Mets tried to repeat the task in the seventh, but it proved to be one time too many. 

With runners on first and second with no outs, Collins ordered Juan Lagares to lay down a sac bunt with runners on first and second with no outs. Lagares’ successful bunt moved d’Arnaud to third. Kelly Johnson hit a shallow fly ball to left which wouldn’t have scored Usain Bolt. Still it’s very curious that Collins would go all-in on pushing in the one run and not use Alejandro De Aza to pinch run for d’Arnaud in that spot. It was inconsistent in what Collins was trying to accomplish. In the blink of an eye, the Mets went from two on with no outs to two on with two outs. 

Cabrera would be robbed of a hit by a sliding Cody Asche. As a result, the Phillies kept the score at 2-2, and Cabrera moved to 0 for his last 25 with RISP. 

Conversely, Phillies manager, Pete Mackanin didn’t seek to play small ball in the bottom of the seventh. The game winning rally started with a Cabrera throwing error allowing the speedy Peter Bourjos to get on base. He moved into scoring position after Jerry Blevins walked Asche. Hansel Robles came in and got one right into Maikel Franco‘s kitchen. Franco was able to fight it off for an RBI single. 

The Phillies would score another run in the eighth when Erik Goeddel threw a wild pitch allowing Ruiz to score from third. It would increase the Phillies lead to 4-2 ruining a decent start by Verrett and knocking the Mets to seven back of the Nationals. 

One other annoying aspect of the game was seeing yet another team try to re-enact Game Five of the World Series. No matter how slow they are, everyone thinks they can re-create the Eric Hosmer play no matter how slow. Tonight, it was Carlos Ruiz‘s turn:

Ruiz was running as Jerad Eickhoff worked a full count against Logan Verrett. Ruiz kept going as Eickhoff beat out Asdrubal Cabrera‘s throw. couldn’t get the ball to first in time to record the out. However, he wouldn’t score as James Loney alertly threw the ball home and d’Arnaud laid down an absolutely terrific tag. That play kept the game tied at 2-2. As we know, it proved to be all for naught. 

Game Notes: Ryan Howard opened the scoring with a solo home run. Yoenis Cespedes sat out the game with his injured quad. Fittingly, De Aza made the last out of the game. 

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Juanderful Start to the Second Half

In the top of the sixth, Neil Walker hit a three run home run to make it 4-0 Mets. With the way Bartolo Colon was cruising, it seemed like the game was effectively over. 

Colon was perfect for the first 4.1 innings. His pitch count was low, and he was moving quickly through the Phillies lineup. He lost the perfect game in the fifth when Cameron Rupp hit a one out single.  Ultimately, it wasn’t the fifth that would be the issue, it was the sixth. 

After Colon was handed the 4-0 lead, the Phillies rallied. It started with a James Loney throwing error making him the only person able to miss the rather large Colon. The run scored on a Peter Bourjos hit RBI triple. After Maikel Franco and Cody Asche RBI singles, it was 4-3, and Colon was chased from the game with two outs in the fifth. 

Hansel Robles was double switched into the game along with Alejandro De Aza because whenever you have an excuse to bring De Aza into the game, you have to do it. Robles came into the game throwing 99 MPH, and he got Freddy Galvis to pop out to get the Mets out of the inning. 
What was once a magical night saw Colon pitch 5.2 innings allowing four hits, three unearned, and two walks with four strikeouts. Colon would still get the win as Robles, Jerry Blevins, Addison Reed, and Jeurys Familia combined to pitch 3.1 scoreless innings to preserve the 5-3 win. 

The insurance run was scored in the seventh courtesy of Juan Lagares, who had a terrific night starting with his third inning leadoff homer off Jeremy Hellickson. Lagares led off the seventh with a walk, and he would steal second base.  He moved to third off a long fly all out off the bat of De Aza. He then scored off a Jose Reyes fielder’s choice. Lagares got a good break on the ball, and made a terrific slide direct to home plate to just beat the drawn-in shortstop Galvis’ throw. 

On the night Lagares was 1-2 with two runs, one walk, one RBI, and the aforementioned homer. Asdrubal Cabrera would also have a great start to the second half going 3-4 with a run scored. Overall, it was a good night for the Mets who got off to a nice start in their first game after the All Star Break. 

Game Notes: Reyes charged in nicely on a ball and made a bare-handed play in the eighth that was reminiscent of David Wright. Yoenis Cespedes missed the game with his strained quad.

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Fair or Not Matz Needed More Than a Quality Start

In baseball lingo, a quality start is defined as a start in which a pitcher allows three earned or less in at least six innings pitched. With that said, Steven Matz did indeed have a quality start today allowing six hits, three earned, and four walks with five strike outs over seven innings. Unfortunately, with a Mets offense without Yoenis Cespedes, a quality start isn’t enough. 

No, the Mets needed the Matz that existed prior to the one we saw prior to everyone knowing about him being bothered by bone spurs in his elbow. From April 17th to June 7th, Matz was 7-1 with a 1.38 ERA and a 1.006 WHIP. He was throwing a 94 MPH fastball 62% of the time, an 84 MPH change 11% of the time, an 88 MPH slider, 13% of the time, and a 78 MPH curve 14% of the time. 

Since that game we saw him rubbing his elbow, Matz has maintained his velocity. However, he’s almost completely stopped using his slider. He now only throws it 3% of the time.  Since he’s stopped throwing the slider, Matz has gone 0-3 with a 5.05 ERA and a 1.430 WHIP. Those numbers include today’s loss. 

While Matz was pitching better than he has in over a month, the Cespedesless Mets offense continued to sputter. The only offensive support came in the form of two Jose Reyes solo homers, including his Mets all-time leading 17th home run to leadoff a game. That broke the tie he had with current teammate Curtis Granderson.  Reyes was the only Met with a multi-hig game one a day where the Mets only managed four hits. Juan Lagares and Asdrubal Cabrera got the other two hits. 

While the Mets were starved for offense, Daniel Murphy continued to try to make the Mets rue the day they decided not to re-sign him. Murphy hit a two run homer in the first inning. The other run was scored off a Wilson Ramos RBI single in the third.  Two of the Nationals’ Mets killers did it again. 

Somewhat fittingly, it was De Aza who made the last out of the game for the Mets. The Mets lost 3-2 and fell six behind the Nationals after losing three out of four and six out of seven. At the very least, the Mets are still in playoff position as the second Wild Card heading into the All Star Break. 

Game Notes: Alejandro De Aza started over Brandon Nimmo with the Nationals starting the lefty Gio Gonzalez. 

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Murphy Homered Off Bastardo

Nothing encapsulates the difference between the Mets and Nationals right now than Daniel Murphy hitting a two run home run off of Antonio Bastardo. 

In this past offseason, the Mets determined Bastardo deserved a big contract, and he has rewarded them with a 5.05 ERA. The Mets passed on Murphy, and he has taken every opportunity he has to remind them what a poor decision it was. He has 18 RBI against the Mets this year, which is his most ever against one opponent in a single season. He’s now hit six homers against the Mets, which is only one less than he hit for the Mets last postseason. 

Tonight, Murphy was 3-4 with a walk, a run, four RBI, a double, and a homer. This would be all the run support Max Scherzer would need as he just dominates the Mets. He came into the night with a 2.03 ERA, a 0.839 WHIP, and a 12.3 K/9. With Yoenis Cespedes being out, it was a minor miracle that the Mets scored a first inning run off a Neil Walker sacrifice fly.  It was all the Mets could reasonably expect to score off Scherzer, who would allow only three hits, one earned, and two walks while striking out nine over seven innings. It would be up to Logan Verrett to make that run hold up. 

He didn’t. Verrett, who is taking Matt Harvey‘s spot in the rotation, allowed four hits, five earned, and five walks with three strike outs over 6.2 innings. All five of the players Verrett walked would come in to score. It was tough to see him pitch almost as tough as it was to see this offense hit tonight. 

The Mets only mustered four hits and three walks on the night. To rub salt in the wound, Alejandro De Aza was the Mets best offensive player on the night going 2-2-3 with a walk.

On a night where Scherzer was dominant, Murphy was Murphy, and De Aza was the Mets best offensive player, it’s no wonder the Mets lost 6-1. 

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Mets Suffered Four Losses Today

The only thing that matters about tonight’s game is the fact that Yoenis Cespedes left the game with a strained quad in the third and Noah Syndergaard left the game in the fifth with an apparent injury. It’s worth noting that Syndergaard’s last two fastballs were 93 and 91 MPH. He throws offspeed pitches faster than that. 

These injuries came on the heels of Matt Harvey announcing he was electing to have season ending surgery to address his thoracic outlet syndrome. With Cespedes and Syndergaard leaving the game, Harvey’s season being over, and tonight’s 3-1 loss to the Nationals, the Mets would suffer four losses tonight. 

In the game tonight, Stephen Strasburg was awesome. He had a no-hitter going until Asdrubal Cabrera homered off of him in the fifth. Strasburg’s final line was seven innings, two hits, one earned, three walks, and nine strikeouts. 

Strasburg was able to win because the Nationals’ Mets killers showed up again. Clint Robinson hit a two run homer in the second, and Daniel Murphy, of course, hit an RBI double in the third. 

The Mets tried to muster a rally in the eighth beginning with a Wilmer Flores double off Nationals reliever Shawn Kelley. Jose Reyes followed with an infield single that Murphy stopped from going into the outfield while rolling over 2-3 times.  It was first and third with no outs, and Reyes would just stay there. He stayed there while Oliver Perez got Curtis Granderson to pop out to short. He stayed there when Juan Lagares, who came in for the injured Cespedes, hit into the inning ending 4-6-3 double play. That double play ended the Mets best shot to tie the game. 

If you want to take something positive from the day allowing you to smile like you’re Brandon Nimmo, Seth Lugo had another impressive performance. Lugo pitched two scoreless and hitless innings. Given Harvey’s injury and Syndergaard leaving tonight’s game, Lugo is making a case for himself to join the rotation. 

Game Notes: The Mets announced Syndergaard left the game due to arm fatigue and not due to issues related to his bone spurs. That’s not all that comforting either. 

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Mets Win the Home Run Derby

On the eve of the All Star Game, the Mets and Nationals engaged in their own Home Run Derby with each team hitting four apiece. Of all the home runs, none was bigger than Wilmer Flores‘ near Promenade shot in the fifth giving the Mets a 7-6 lead. 

It was Flores’ third home run in the past two games and his fifth on the home stand. It was made all the more gratifying as it came off of everyone’s favorite ex-Met Oliver Perez. 

Flores had entered the game in the top of the fifth as Bartolo Colon was ineffective and couldn’t make his way out of the fifth. In fact neither he nor Nationals rookie starter Lucas Giolito were good. Colon looked too old giving up six earned over 4.2 innings, and Gioloto looked too young allowing four earned in 3.2 innings. Neither pitcher would factor in the decision. 

Hansel Robles would be the pitcher who got the win for the Mets. He came on in the fifth, and he bailed the Mets out of a bases loaded situation by getting Anthony Rendon to fly out to center. Robles kept the Mets in the game allowing for Flores’ heroics. Overall, he would pitch 1.1 innings allowing only one hit while striking out two. 
It was a good hard fought win that saw the Mets rally from 1-0, 4-1, and 6-4 deficits. You accomplish that by getting key hits from everyone in the lineup:

  • James Loney hit a two out RBI single in the third to tie the game 1-1. 
  • Travis d’Arnaud and Jose Reyes homered in the fourth to narrow the gap from 4-1 to 4-3. 
  • Yoenis Cespedes tied the game in the fourth with an RBI double scoring Curtis Granderson
  • Brandon Nimmo battled from back in the count to get a single in the fifth. He would later score on Flores’ three run homer. 
  • Asdrubal Cabrera hit a solo home run in the sixth to give the Mets an 8-6 lead. 
  • Neil Walker added an insurance run in the seventh with his seventh inning RBI single making it 9-7. 

Quietly, Granderson, the new second place hitter, had a brilliant night. He was 3-5 with two runs, two walks, and a double.  The Mets needed this entire offensive output because the Natuonals weren’t going away and because the Mets had to use Antonio Bastardo. In the seventh, Bastardo allowed Daniel Murphy to hit a bomb to right center. Murphy joined Bryce Harper, Clint Robinson, and Rendon in Nationals who homered on the night. 

After Bastardo was out of the game, the Mets turned to Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia to secure the 9-7 win. Reed pitched 1.1 scoreless, and Familia recorded his 31st straight save to start the season. 

Familia was aided by a terrific play by Cabrera after he issued a leadoff walk to Jayson Werth. Murphy hit a ball that Cabrera made a terrific play just to get to the ball with a dive to his right. He flipped to Walker to get the force out. It become a double play as Werth was ruled to have interfered with Walker by sliding past the base. For what it’s worth, Murphy was safe at first by a mile, but that’s the new rule. Familia then struck out Harper to end the game. 

The Mets have now closed the gap to three games and two in the loss column. 

Game Notes: The eight home runs were the most in any single game at Citi Field. Reyes had started, stumbled, stopped, and was picked off of first by Wilson Ramos. It went down as a caught stealing. 

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Flores Does His Best Stanton Impersonation 

When the Mets signed Jose Reyes to predominantly play third base in David Wright‘s prolonged absence, many believed this would mean Wilmer Flores would find himself back on the bench. Today, Flores would have something to say about that. 

In the second inning, Flores hit a bomb to left centerfield off Justin Nicolino to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. In the fourth, Flores hit another one to left center to give the Mets a 4-1 lead. 

There was some excitement when he came up with the bases loaded in the fifth, and he worked a 3-1 count. Unfortunately, he hit a hot shot right at Don Kelly, who started the 5-5-3 double play. However, this double play wouldn’t mar what was a 2-4 day with the two solo homers. 

Between Flores’ two homers and Curtis Granderson‘s two RBI single in the fourth, Jacob deGrom had all the run support he needed in his last start before the All Star Break. 

For most of the afternoon, deGrom spent his time in and out of trouble. He was twice aided by timely double plays that prevented a run from scoring. Overall, it was a very good start that saw deGrom throw 117 pitches over seven innings allowing six hits, two earned, and two walks with seven strikeouts. The two runs were courtesy of Giancarlo Stanton. 

Stanton killed the Mets like he did this entire three game series. He tied a major league record by having homers in his last four at bats, which included his first two at bats today. In total, eight of his last ten hits at Citi Field have been homers. He’s got three of the four longest homers at Citi Field. By the way, Yoenis Cespedes has the other:

Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia made sure of that Stanton wouldn’t cause any more damage. Reed struck out the last batter in the eighth to ensure Stanton couldn’t tie the game with another homer.  Familia struck him out leading off the ninth en route to his 30th consecutive save to start the season.  

The Mets 4-2 win moved them to 2.5 games up on the Marlins in the East and the Wild Card. The Mets will now look to make similar headway against the Nationals this weekend. 

Game Notes: Reyes started at shortstop because Asdrubal Cabrera was up late last night due to a family illness. Reyes  was 2-4 with two doubles and a run. Flores was shifted from first to third, and James Loney got the start. The Marlins challenged a call in the fifth, but the double play ruling on the field was upheld. 

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Stanton Beat the Mets

Steven Matz had a terrific start pitching seven innings allowing only two earned on six hits and one walk with six strikeouts. The outing was all the more impressive considering he’s dealing with bone spurs in his elbow that Matz once believed required in-season surgery.  Unfortunately, despite this terrific start, he’d be a hard luck loser because he made one bad pitch to Giancarlo Stanton:

Just like that Stanton turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead. From there Stanton would go on and make sure the Marlins would win the game. 

Yoenis Cespedes led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk off Marlins starter Wei-Yin Chen. After the next two batters recorded outs, James Loney became the first Mets batter not named Cespedes to get a hit off of Chen. Juan Lagares then hit a sinking line drive to right that looked like it was going to tie the game:

In the top of the eighth, Stanton added all the insurance the Marlins needed after he hit a three run home run off Erik Goeddel to make it 5-1 and unofficially put the game out of reach. 

The main issue tonight was Chen was really good for the Marlins. He allowed only three base hits, and two of them were off of the bat of Yoenis Cespedes. The only run he allowed was Cespedes’ solo home run in the fourth. The only other Mets to reach base off of Chen was Loney with the aforementioned base hit and Curtis Granderson with a walk. 

It’s easy to get hung up on Chen’s 5.11 ERA heading into tonight’s game. However, that overlooks the fact that the Mets have been hitting of late. It also ignores Chen’s lifetime 3.88 ERA and his 3.34 ERA in 2015. In essence, Chen was capable of this performance, and he just so happened to do it tonight in a Marlins’ 5-2 win. 

Game Notes: Jose Reyes played his first game with the Mets since re-signing with them after his domestic violence incident. He wore his familiar number 7, and Travis d’Arnaud switched to 18. He leadoff and played third. Reyes was 0-4 with a strike out. There was not one ball hit his way. 

With Reyes’ return, Matt Reynolds was demoted to AAA meaning the Mets kept Alejandro De Aza. For once, he rewarded the Mets faith by hitting a pinch hit home run in the eighth off Fernando Rodney. 

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